Books I Read August 31st, 2024

Spent the last few weeks wandering around England, France, drinking tea and eating cheese, respectively. Came back to find my house was not burnt down, nothing to take for granted here in LA in 2024.

Grimus by Salman Rushdie – An immortal Indian seeks death, purpose in this surrealistic sci-fi. I admire Rushdie's willingness to straddle genres, but I can't say this did a heck ton for me other than that.

City of the Living by Nicola Lagioia – True crime overview of two Roman neer-do-wells committing a Leopold and Loeb. Overwrought, even (especially) given the seriousness of the subject matter.

Playing for Thrills by Shuo Wang – A hooligan tries to solve the mystery of whether he killed his friend in a drunken weekend a decade past. Reminded me of Bolano in its focus on the down and out and the constant, ominous presence of memory.

The Skating Rink by Roberto Bolano – A lovesick little person builds a castle for his dream woman. Also, a murder. One of Bolano's many minor masterpieces, at once compulsively readable and heavy with esoteric weight.

Red Pyramid by Vladamir Sorokin – Short fiction by Russia's most outre fantasist. I enjoyed Sorokin's novels but found this too vile even for my jaded tastes.

The Siege of Loyalty House: A Civil War Story by Jessie Childs – It is always an odd marvel to me how little even educated Englishfolk know about their own history. Their civil war is largely a lacunae for most of the anglos I speak to, and the Glorious Revolution fails to elicit more than an eye blink. I mean we're dumb as shit too, don't get me wrong. God knows I've got no delusions about the quality of my countrymen. Anyway, this was a perfectly readable few hundred pages, the kind of on the ground history that I find both enjoyable and enlightening.

Swords Against Wizardry by Fritz Leiber – Heroic analogs for Leiber and his goy best friend wander around a magical New York, drink heavily, make poor romantic decisions. Would it shock anyone to discover these were inspiration for City Dreaming?